17 Books on Autism Recommended by Parents as a Christmas Gift

Christmas is just over 2 weeks away and last minute shopping for autistic children, their parents and family friends can get just a little stressful. What books can you give your children? Parents of autistic children give their suggestions, reading material to compliment some of the movies based on autism.

Between the holiday hustle and bustle along with the stress it all entails, the hardest presents are often left last and ideas are often more than welcome.

Autistic children are not the easiest to shop for. With sensory issues and proneness to breakdowns (which a proper diet can often calm down), Santa might be having a little more trouble than usual finding the best and most appropriate gifts for your little ones. If toys are not on your list this year, perhaps you should opt for books instead. After all, they can be for the kids, the adults, and for the family around you that is not sure what to think about the existence of autism around them.

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It is not easy to accept that your child has autism. Many families collapse once a diagnosis is made. Holidays become a trial and siblings drift apart. Some members may refuse to acknowledge that the autistic member exists. Communication problems may create immense obstacles in understanding one another, leading to burdensome frustrations that would be better avoided. All in all, living with autism in the home is not always so dandy. That does not mean there's nothing good to it however. Autistic individuals simply think in a different manner and it takes a bit of an open mind to understand the way most on the spectrum function.

After asking parents on two rather substantially large discussion groups, here are the most recommended books by parents and autistic individuals alike:

When two people find out they are going to have a baby life, as they know it, seemingly stands still. Whether or not your child is going to have autism tends to not cross one's mind. Seems no one thinks about autism until they have to sit in a doctor’s office and be told that a family member, a friend’s child, or their child is autistic. When you look at it from the other side it seems that once a parent has been told their child has autism all they can do is look for reasons why it’s their fault, especially at first.

All of us parents of autistic children know the stresses of raising them, especially a non-verbal autistic child. I had that pleasure for half of my son’s life. He was non-verbal and extremely violent to himself and to me, he still is sometimes. Raising him during that point in time was unbearable it seemed, mostly because it’s an impossibility to get the support you need when you are in the parents shoes. The thing is, not one time did it or has it crossed my mind that the only way “out” is to murder my child [whether due to stress or unrealistic beliefs.